Major General Edward Tuite Dalton.

In literary sources related to the Great Indian Uprising of 1857 and the colonial history of Chota Nagpur, a dry and hilly plateau located in the present-day state of Jharkhand in India, one comes across the name of Edward Tuite Dalton almost as easily as spotting a handful of Acorns scattered across a white marble floor.

These hundreds of anecdotes, citations and entries from military records, historical sources, and journals reveal him to be a soldier and an administrator, while a scientific study authored and edited by him identify him as an anthropologist.

Yet, inspite these several mentions, there is no single historical document on Edward Tuite Dalton. Perhaps for the reason, he was but just one of the many employees of the East India Company to be posted in India in the 18th century – and what he achieved in the line of duty qualified to be out on paper but not earn him a biopic.

Edward Dalton, an Introduction.

A contemporary of the chronicler George Bruce Malleson, the author Rudyard Kipling, photographers John Murray and Felice Beato, Edward Tuite Dalton belonged in the same league of extraordinary gentlemen who are remembered for their works and contributions. But unlike them he is largely known through his mentions and other brief instances where he allows us a glimpse of his mind.

He wrote no biography for himself and the only surviving picture that allows us to identify him in flesh is an old painting that reveals him to be rather short in stature, of stocky built and sporting a beard.

In the city of Ranchi that still scorches in summer but leaves its residents relishing a winter that has greatly diminished in vigour since he resided there in the 18th century, amidst a handful of traditional huts and sturdy colonial-style flat-roofed bungalows nestled in an open and rugged countryside of hills and forests now completely overgrown with concrete buildings and congested roads, his name surfaces once in a while in periodicals and news articles published by local tabloids – and simply as Commissioner Dalton.

In the documented history of the St. Paul’s Cathedral, the second oldest church to be found in the city, he is the goodhearted humanitarian who laid the foundation stone and partly financed from his own allowances – after having failed to patch-up an irreconcilable split that led to the ex-communication of the German priest Fredrick Batsch, a man he appears to have greatly respected for tireless missionary work and moral character, see the Farbound.Net story: To err is divine, to help is human.

In the corridors of history and academics, he is one of those historical personalities whose name scholars are familiar with and whose words they have featured and quoted in their works but never bothered to look beyond.

In fact Edward Tuite Dalton remains so less researched that one interested in knowing the man in the 20th century has to inevitably engage in the laborious process of scouring through several historical manuscripts and then like working with a jigsaw puzzle having to fit in the pieces.

The attempt, however, is not in vain for by arranging these bits and pieces a portrait of him does emerge through the haze of time. A portrait that reveals him to be an Irishman of caliber and moral integrity. One who left behind the creative circle he was born into and sailed the odd 8, 503 nautical miles from the British Isles to India, to soldier and administer the blisteringly hot country at the young age of twenty.

The cherished stepson of Thomas Taylour, the 2nd Marquess of Headfort and a much loved stepbrother of the 3rd Marquess of Headfort – a son of Thomas from a former marriage and who had succeeded him after his death in 1870. Edward Tuite Dalton was not just a brave soldier, a just commissioner and an anthropologist with a deep affinity for the ancient tribes of India.

He was a man who was highly respected in a country that was not his own and by a people different to him in culture, habits and language – with perhaps the best example of this respect being the refusal of the Sepoys of the Ramgargh battalion to burn down his hut in Ranchi during a violent episode of the 1857 Mutiny, and despite the fact, he was their enemy at the time.

This story is thus an attempt in understanding the intriguing personality that was Edward Tuite Dalton – and whose life can be divided into four distinct periods. His childhood in Ireland. His 18 years long tenure in the wild and dangerous land of Assam that endowed him with invaluable experience in soldiering. His tenure as a commissioner in Chotanagpur that earned him repute as an administrator. Lastly, his contribution in the field of anthropology.

Edward Dalton’s Ireland, 1815.

Edward Tuite Dalton was born on the 17th of August in 1815, the very same year the Napoleonic war in Europe had come to an end with the battle of Waterloo.

The Ireland he was born into was a land of limited opportunities and hardship. With the end of the war, the country’s economy that had hitherto thrived as an exporter of food and men was plunged into a state of depression. A sheer drop in export prices, especially for grain and beef, had led to poor wages, high unemployment and poverty.

In 1817, when Edward was barely two years old, the country had witnessed wide spread starvation, and in 1821 while severe droughts had disrupted the production of the country’s primary cash crop the potato, and which had sustained its rural population, the disease of Typhus had ravaged the countryside, see Irish History article: The Mahon Papers.

It was a phase during which, starvation and limited venues of earning, had forced many of his hardy countrymen to migrate to distant shores in search of better prospects or adventure, most notably to the U.S. and Canada.

Some had journeyed to the far away lands as frontier settlers, others in the service of the East India Company that at the time had offered better pay and privileges than a peacetime British army, greatly downsized after its victory over Napoleon in the muddy fields of Waterloo in Belgium on the 18th of June in 1815.

Edward Dalton, a member of the Tuite-Dalton family.

Edward was named after his biological father, Edward Tuite Dalton. Born in 1756 in the county of Meath in Ireland, the senior Dalton was a custom official and a gifted music composer – with a lineage that on a clear day could be traced back to the two ancient households of Tuites and Daltons who were barons and landowners settled in Ireland since the Norman invasion of the Island in the 12th century.

His mother was Olivia Stevenson. She was the daughter of Sir John Andrew Stevenson, another talented music composer. Their family friends were artists and men of letters. Most notable among them was the Irish poet Thomas Moore and the English poet, George Noel Gordon Byron.

He was the second child born to the couple. His elder brother was Gustav Tuite Dalton and his younger sister was Adelaide Tuite Dalton.

Edward’s story, however, and one that history knows, begun with the death of his biological father in 1821 and the subsequent marriage of his widowed mother Olivia to Thomas Taylour in 1822 – who at the time was the 2nd Marquess of Headfort and an influential man of peerage and member of Parliament.

Edward Dalton’s stepfather, Thomas Taylour.

While it is not known, whether this nuptial arrangement between Olivia and Thomas had come about over mutual love and admiration or was more plausibly tethered by Olivia’s illustrious father, the knighted music composer, Sir John Andrew Stevenson – in accordance with the Irish tradition of his age that endowed parents with the full freedom of making matrimonial alliances for their children.

What is certain is that the marriage had provided Edward, his brother Gustavus and sister Adelaide with a safe cradle during the hard times. Thomas Taylour was a benevolent and devoted stepfather, and who inspite of later having his own children with Olivia, had spared no effort in raising his adopted progeny. Under his fatherly affections, they had not only received proper care but passed their adolescent years, accepting him as their own father.

This mutual love and admiration had continued even after the death of Olivia in 1834 and Taylour’s remarriage to the twice-widowed Frances Macnaghten, thereafter in 1853. A revelation that emerged in 2011, when Eimera Walsh, a student at the National Library of Ireland researching the Taylour family had stumbled upon the Tuite-Daltons, see Hidden History by Eimera Walsh.

Furthermore, correspondence between Thomas and Edward in later years as the latter had begun his service in India, is an indisputable testament to the fond relationship that had existed between the stepfather and the Tuite-Dalton siblings.

A relationship that had naturally begun and grown as Olivia had moved with her three children into Thomas’s estate at Kenlis, and later as Thomas, as a responsible custodian had taken to ensure the children’s proper upbringing and education – with the enrollment of Gustavus at Trinity and Edward at Harrows – an institution that is presently located in North West London’s Harrow Hill.

Edward Dalton’s school, Harrows.

Harrows was a boarding school for boys established in 1572. This prestigious institution by the 18th century had developed a trend of attracting boys from the wealthy and land-owning Irish aristocracy along with children from British colonies and trading firms such as the East India company that operated in India and the Hudson Bay Company that in 1668 had planted its roots in Canada to capitalize on the lucrative Canadian fur trade.

Harrow students since the mid 17th century had predominantly made their way overseas or joined the army and likewise Edward too, in spite of coming from a family of creative talent and well-established connections, had opted for a career with the East India Company in India – unlike his elder brother Gustavus, who had remained with the Taylour family to manage the family estate in Virginia and had later embarked on a career of political journalism and writing.

Edward Dalton’s service record.

Enlistment and discharge papers that are now archived with the British Library, reveal Edward had arrived in India on the 12th of November in 1835 and after a service of some 39 odd years resigned his commission on the 15th of April in 1875. During this lengthy period, he had served both under the East India Company and after its dissolution in 1859, directly under the crown – barring aside a two year leave of absence to visit Europe for private reasons.

He had begun his career in as an adjutant and retired as a Major General of the Bengal Lancers – a cavalry regiment that was originally raised by the East India Company for the expansion and defence of the Bengal Presidency between 1803 -1857, with some branches of this historic regiment still in service with the modern Indian and Pakistani army, upgraded and equipped as per the times and manned by a new generation of soldiers.

While it is uncertain if he was a cadet in training at the British army’s Royal Military Academy at Woolwich and Sandhurst, or had enrolled at the Addiscombe Seminary – that at the time was a military training centre the East India Company had established at Croydon in 1809 to prepare officers for the armies of the Bengal, Bombay and Madras presidencies.

His wealthy and affluent background hints, he may have as per the tradition that existed in England at the time, purchased his commission to serve as an officer with the East India Company. This, while his distinguished service record is proof he was indeed a man of caliber, determined to prove his mettle both as an administrator and soldier on the field.

Edward Dalton in India.

As one hears of Edward’s first commission to be the lonely outpost of Dibru Ghoor (now Dirubagh) in the upper reaches of Assam between 1839 and 1841, it appears he may have spent his initial four years in India confined to the city of Calcutta before being assigned to the troubled frontiers as an adjutant to a senior officiating political agent – a military officer entrusted with administration duties and building relations with the native dwellers.

Established as the capital of British India in 1772, the city of Calcutta at the time was also the administrative headquarters of the sprawling Bengal presidency – a massive territorial division of the East India Company that at its greatest extent had stretched from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of modern-day Pakistan to the Malaysian state of Penang in the East. With the present-day Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (encompassing the erstwhile kingdom of Awadh) making up its largest recruitment ground for native regiments till 1857.

Owing to its political and administrative importance the city was then a seat of training for inducting young officers into the fold, and it is very possible that it was here in Calcutta, Edward too was prepped for his role as an administrator and acquired proficiency in Bengali and Assamese – evident again in his service record that clearly mention him qualifying examinations in these two languages.

Edward Dalton, an adjutant in Assam, 1839.

The Assam Edward was posted to in 1839 was then a land of thick rolling jungles that lined both sides of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. It was a biosphere of abundant wildlife and vegetation inhabited by less than a handful of ruling dynasties and a substantial population of multi-racial tribes – who had squabbled, raided, enslaved and murdered weaker neighbours over dominance, riches and tribal beliefs.

This vast region had encompassed not just the present Indian state of Assam in the North East, but also her sister states of Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Arunachal – as well as portions of the present day country of Bangladesh. Initially occupied by the Burmese, it had become an accidental gain for the East India Company, after the British trading firm had gained victory in the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1826.

A war that had erupted over an invasion of the company’s territories by a 30,000 Burmese army and very nearly cost it its eastern city of Chittagong. Not to mention a crushing defeat in the initial stages of the war.

This Assam that the East India Company had eventually brought under its administrative control was not entirely unknown prior to the Anglo-Burmese war. In 1792, on the insistence of a local king by the name of Guarinath Singh, the company had sent in an expeditionary force to protect his lands from Momaria rebels and band of brigands who had pillaged and created much unrest.

The region, however, had then held little interest for the company and in lieu of the non-interference policies implemented by the Governor-General, Lord Cornwallis, it had subsequently withdrawn its presence after successfully completing its task.

But after becoming the dominant power in the region, the company had gradually changed its policy from merely maintaining peace for protectorate kings to extending its sway over the pristine landscape for colonizing and harvesting of natural resources – a defining trait of the East India Company, critics of British Colonial policies have never failed to expound.

In the process it had annexed tiny feuding kingdoms but run into numerous problems with the multitude of ethnically different martial tribes of Akas, Mikirs, Abhors, Mijis, Dafals, and Bhutias – and of which, the Singphos, Kamptis, Nagas and Mishmis were the most fearsome and troublesome, and who had not hesitated to raid and pillage company towns, tea gardens and territories.

The company had initially tackled the issue with a mixture of monetary bribes and aggression but as the garrisoned troops had started policing inter-tribal hostilities and imposing western notions of justice and civilization, the conflicts had come to be directed more frequently towards the company itself – and despite the presence of well-drilled and armed regiments.

Evident in the destruction of the company’s military base at Balipara in the present-day Sonitpur district of Assam by the Kapachor tribe in 1835, and later, the destruction of the North-Eastern frontier outpost of Sadiya in Tinsukia district of Assam. With the latter witnessing the slaughter of an officiating Political Agent and 80 soldiers by a coalition of Kampti and Singpho tribesmen in 1839 – a few months before Edward’s posting.

Edward Dalton’s service with the First Assam Light Infantry in 1839.

Here in this wild and pristine land of rain-wet lush green forests, thick with slithering reptiles and hostile tribesman that imperiled the lives of officers and soldiers on a daily basis, Edward had spend eighteen years of his career and initially with the artillery division of the First Assam Light infantry – a regiment that was originally raised out of native recruits in 1817 in the region of Cuttack in Odisha but is now the modern British Army’s Royal Gurkha Rifles, with soldiers hailing from the mountainous country of present-day Nepal.

A letter penned to Thomas by Edward, then 25 years of age, presents us with a descriptive scene of his life in the barracks. Through this letter, we come to know about his participation in regular duties, combat drills and expeditions.

His worries, hopes and aspirations. Not to mention the changing countryside of Assam – with the garrisoned troops of the East India Company clearing the dense forests to build roads, set up homes and official quarters in their endeavour to transform the wild region into the province that it would officially be designated as in the year 1911.

The letter is also a poignant testament of the close bond he shared with his stepfather and his entire family.

Edward Tuite Dalton, as a Political Agent in 1855.

One next hears of Edward after a gap of almost fourteen years, and from another letter that he penned to Thomas in 1855. What Edward experienced in these fourteen years is not clearly known for lack of literary evidence – with even surviving manuscripts of correspondence between Edward and Thomas possibly lost forever.

However, from the content of the letter, it is clear that he was no more the anxious adjutant with ambitious dreams of promotion and career advancement as we found him in 1841. But a 40 years old seasoned soldier and a political agent with enough experience to be solely entrusted with delicate military operations – and which on this occasion was to apprehend a bunch of Mishmi tribesmen responsible for the murders of Father Nicholas Michael Kirck and his companion, Augustine Etienne Bourry.

Selected for sainthood by the Vatican in 2014 (see UCAN article: Sainthood process initiated for French missionaries in Arunachal.), Kirck and Bourry were two French missionaries sent by the Society of Foreign Mission to spread its branches in India. This ecclesiastical order was established in 1658 by Bishop François Pallu and Bishop Lambert de la Motte near what is today the historic street known as the Rue du Bac in Paris. The order at the time was seeking to expand its presence in countries and territories beyond Europe, much like its German, English, Portuguese and Spanish counterparts.

The French missionaries Nicholas Michael Kirck and Augustine Etienne Bourry.

The missionary Nicholas Michael Kirck was a 33-year-old native of Lorraine. He was ordained as a priest in 1843 and had arrived in India after the outbreak of the 3rd French Revolution in 1848. He had toured parts of India and later taken up residence at the newly built frontier outpost of Saikwah in 1851 with plans to penetrate the borders of Tibet – that hitherto no westerner had done before him.

Saikwah at this stage was an isolated station in the upper reaches of Assam. It had marked the boundary of India in the North East and was located near the border of Tibet. Here Kirck had come across a local Kampti chieftain and with whose help he had eventually reached the forbidden land in 1852. En route to Tibet, Kirck had passed through the village of Walong – which in the year 2018 lies roughly 20km away from the Indo-China border in the Anjaw district of Arunachal, India.

Endowed with a handy set of medical skills and with luck on his side, Kirck, had also explored the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra. He had halted his journey at a village that hugged the banks of the Yangtze river and later made a safe return back to Saikwah without having incurred any serious mishap.

Nicholas Michael Kirck’s second expedition to Tibet and murder.

Upon his return to Saikwah in 1854, Kirck had met-up with Bourry, a 27-year-old missionary from the town of La Chapelle-Largeau in France. Like Kirck, Bourry too was interested in exploring the forbidden land and, while at Saikwah, the two had prepared for a second expedition.

On the journey way back, however, the missionaries were waylaid by a band of Mishmi villagers led by their chief Kaieesha in the region of Rima, that now falls in present-day Zayun county of Tibet. Here both missionaries had met with a violent end – with Bourry at the time ailing and on a makeshift stretcher.

Motive behind the murders of Nicholas Michael Kirck and Augustine Etienne Bourry.

The exact motive behind the murder of the missionaries is not clear. Several narrations published at the time present alternate theories. These alternate narrations range from a possible dispute that may have arisen between Kaieesha and the missionaries to accusations of sorcery and a case of simple robbery. Likewise, the manner of their deaths is also not clear, and which make its impossible to state with certainty if Kirck indeed was burned alive and the ailing Bourry killed in the very stretcher he was being carried in.

What is certain though, is the murders at the time had created quite a stir within administered territories. The news of this incident had reached the Governor-General of India, Lord Dalhousie, and who it appears was determined to bring the murderers to justice and prevent further incidents of the kind – even though the crime had occurred outside the boundary of British influence and the whereabouts of the tribesmen was not known.

Edward Dalton’s role in organizing a military expedition for apprehending the Mishmi tribesmen responsible for the murders.

As the closest command base at this time was the station of Dibru Ghoor (Dirubagh in present-day Dirubagh district of Assam) the mission of apprehending the tribesmen was entrusted to Edward, who at his time was a senior political officer.

Although several publications that speak of the military expedition against these Mishmi tribesmen most often omit Edward’s name in the credits and highlight the exploits of Lieutenant Eden alone, the officer who launched a surprise attack in the wee hours of the morning and apprehended the tribesmen. Edward’s service record and the British-India government’s statement of acknowledgement is a strong testament of the role he played in the planning and successful execution of the military operation.

Edward’s letter to his stepfather is another revealing piece of correspondence that sheds light on the episode. By browsing through its content, one can easily deduce that this mission was of immense importance for him, and was the second expedition to be entrusted in his charge, with the first being the “Gurnean” expedition – of which there is little information.

Furthermore, and importantly, this letter is a revelation of Edward’s progressive development into a seasoned soldier who having spend seventeen years in Assam was now closely familiar with the tribes and the lay of the land.

Details of the Mishmi military expedition.

A study of the details of the military expedition, reveals Edward had begun his preparations for the crucial mission by first pacifying all neighbouring tribes with a mixture of diplomacy and aggression to not only alienate Kaisheeha but to also prevent a co-ordinate tribal action against the expeditionary force. Next, he had shrouded the station of Dibru Ghoor with a curtain of secrecy to prevent any hint of a military expedition being organized from becoming a sensation – and as Edward himself states, people were allowed to come but not leave.

In the details again, one later finds Edward personally leading the large military force to the very foot of the hill on which was nestled Kaisheeha’s village – and then directing his trusted and able friend, the Lieutenant Eden, to climb up the hill with his small party of twenty regulars of the Assam Light Infantry and forty native Kampti auxiliaries to surprise Kaisheeha and his tribesmen in their layer.

The expedition is so well planned by Edward that his friend Eden has no difficulty in carrying out the final stage of the mission – and which he eventually does without sustaining high casualties. In the firefight, three of Kaisheeha sons are slain, while Kaisheeha himself is taken prisoner and later sentenced by a military court to be executed at the station of Dibru Ghoor – for the crimes he committed.

Edward Dalton, as assistant commissioner in Ranchi. 

Two years after the success of the Mishmi expedition, the name of Edward surfaces again in surviving documents to acquaint us with the knowledge that he was a captain in the military and the acting commissioner of the Chota Nagpur Plateau – as a result of a promotion and transfer that had come about after his long and meritorious tour of duty in Assam, for almost a lengthy period of eighteen years.

Unlike Assam, the landscape of Chota Nagpur, while forested and etched with scenic hills and gently flowing waterfalls, was unforgivably hot and oppressive in summers and it will not be wrong to surmise Edward at first must have found it immensely difficult residing in the town of Ranchi. Not to mention tour the province in the sweltering weather on official duties.

Yet, like Assam, Chota Nagpur was also a land of many marital tribes inhabiting its wild jungles and remote corners and Edward, who by now appears to have cultivated a keen interest in studying tribes, must have most certainly felt at home with his duties of assistant commissioner providing him with uninterpreted opportunities to interact and observe aboriginal tribesmen in their natural habitat – evident in his private journals in which he recorded his study of tribes in detail.

The 1857 Rebellion.

However, at this stage of his life, Edward’s greatest trial wasn’t the sordid heat of the Indian plains, the mosquito that left one stricken with malaria or the Cholera that brought down soldiers faster than bullets.

But the Sepoy mutiny of 1857. A brutal and violent uprising that had tested the temperament and perception of every European who had ever acquired a love for the country of their posting and its people.

Including Edward, who as acting commissioner, had faced one of his toughest challenges as a soldier and administrator.

Exploding with full fury in the present-day city of Meerut in present Uttar Pradesh, India and flooding across the Bengal Presidency from Delhi to Chittagong in present-day Bangladesh. And beyond to even Dimapur in the North Eastern region of present-day Nagaland.

Roots of the revolt.

The 1857 rebellion was an unplanned but vicious tragedy of human lives and sentiments that had erupted in the heat of the moment and raged from the 10 of May, 1857 to the 1st of November, 1858.

This violent upheaval had ultimately resulted in the dissolution of the E.I.C., in 1859 and seen the passing of its Indian territories to the British crown. Which henceforth had assumed command of British India’s administrative and military departments.

Though ignited by a bunch of disgruntled Sepoys of the Bengal army, and quintessentially a military revolt. The colossal event had drawn in local princes and the peasantry within the Bengal presidency. And taken the E.I.C almost two years to curb.

The factors that led to the rebellion, although most often, is stated to have erupted over religious grievances, in essence, had gone deeper than what was apparent on the surface.

At the roots of this revolt was the loss of a Sepoy’s privileges and unsatisfactory terms of his military service. Not to mention the failure of the East India Company to recognize the rising discontentment of native troops. Even as this discontentment had revealed visible signs, since 1852.

Military dispatches, mentioning Edward’s efforts in controlling the mutiny.

Edward’s command in the mutiny is revealed to us not only from a set of archived letters he had sent to Calcutta. But also from other military dispatches and excerpts of the same preserved by colonial historians. Such as Charles Ball, Sir John William Kaye and Colonel George Bruce Malleson.

Soldiers, administrators and men of letters who had taken up the responsibility of not only documenting the mutiny in chronological order but also in identifying the causes and making sense of the confusing events. Albeit with many glaring errors.

From excerpts of military dispatches present in the work of Colonial George Bruce Malleson. A soldier and author, who was thoroughly but wrongly convinced the mutiny was an orchestrated and planned event. Hatched by princely ringleaders.

We come to know of Edward’s gallantry and exploits. Which unlike Malleson’s theory of conspiracy are accurate and true.

Uprising in Chota Nagpur.

In the Chota Nagpur Plateau, located between the British Capital of Kolkatta and Meerut, the city where the rebellion had exploded in the heat of the moment.

The unrest had not just been restricted to the native battalions stationed at the four principal stations of Chaibasa, Hazaribagh, Ramgargh and Purulia. But had also seen the insurrection of the tribal Kols, Santhals, Cheros and Bogatas.

Martial tribes, that had taken advantage of the breakdown in law and order to rampage, loot and plunder.

The breakdown in law and order had also induced the participation of local regents. Who like the tribes had taken advantage of the revolt to assume power and settle old scores with ancestral rivals. Misguided by the false belief, that the rule of the E.I.C had come to an end.

Rebellion of the Sepoys.

The rebellion had begun in Chota Nagpur with the revolt of the native garrison at Danpur, located some 215km away from Ranchi, in what is now, the Indian state of Bihar.

It had then spread to the native Ramgargh battalion in the military station of Hazaribagh, approximately 164km from Ranchi. Followed by the station at Purulia in present-day West Bengal along with Ramgargh and Chaibasa in Jharkhand.

With the Sepoys in mutiny, and the E.I.C administration in retreat. It hadn’t taken long for the local potentates and tribals to embark on a warpath. Although, and as was observed then, every participant was guided by different motives.

In the sector of British Singhbhum, south of Edward’s jurisdiction, the petty Raja of Porhat, Arjun Singh, had been the first to declare hostilities.

Mentions Bishnoi Pati in the book, The Great Rebellion of 1857 in India. Between the months of July and November 1857, Arjun Singh had mobilized a large force of the tribal Kols and declared his own personal war on the Rajas of Seraikela and Kharsawn. Allies of the East India Company and his ancestral rivals.

This local prince had embarked on the warpath after the E.I.C district officer, one Captain Sissimore, had evacuated from his post in the wake of the rebellion at the military station of Hazaribagh.

Arjun Singh who had considered himself as the king of Singbhum by tradition. Had been greatly irked over the fact, that Captain Sissimore had left in charge Chakradhar Singh, the Raja of Seraikela.

Moreover, in the month of September, when the Ramgargh battalion stationed at Chaibasa had revolted and plundered the treasury. And though their escape had been blocked by some 400 Kols. This petty Raja had provided them with shelter and employed them at the Chakradhar fort.

Insurrection in Palamu, Hazaribagh and Manbhum.

The incident in British Singhbhum was by no means an isolated one. In Palamu, a town 190km away from Ranchi. A tribal alliance of Chero and Bogata tribesmen had taken the opportunity to venture out and terrorize, the property and lives of anyone they had met.

Their motives are still debated today as to whether they were spurred only by economical gains or to present a united front with the Sepoys in rebellion – who by this time had also degraded into looting and plundering.

In Manbhum, a city now located in the present-day state of West Bengal India, some 164km away from Ranchi. The tribal Santhals after their failed uprising in 1855, had embarked on a spree of murders and looting.

However, here, quick thinking on the part of the authorities had averted the danger from escalating into a large scale insurrection with the imprisonment of the chief of their clan – who was not released till after the end of the mutiny in 1859.

Although at Hazaribagh, left unchecked, the Santhals had rampaged without opposition and long after the mutinous Sepoys had been killed or apprehended in 1857.

Edward’s precarious position.

Though entrusted with maintaining peace in the province and protecting the regional administrative capital of Ranchi. With a large portion of the garrisoned troops in open rebellion and lives of European officers in peril. It is not hard to see Edward’s position at this time was indeed a precarious one.

Yet from military records, we find that this veteran of a now bygone age seems to have never once strayed far from the most troubled spots with the hope of restoring order. In spite of being completely outnumbered and outgunned. His bravery, indeed worthy of a great measure of our respect.

These records, mostly Edward’s own entries, further acquaints us with the apprehension of E.I.C officers regarding the native Sepoys. And the factors that had led them to abandon the administrative headquarters of the Chota Nagpur region, that was the town of Ranchi.

Ranchi abandoned.

While from Edward’s words it becomes apparent he had decided to make a stand with the native troops at his disposal. The open refusal of the local Sepoys had nonetheless forced him to take the only available course of action. And which was to abandon an impossible to defend Ranchi, and regroup in a more defensible location.

Thus on the 2nd of August 1857, Edward, accompanied by a handful of English officers and a few loyal native soldiers, had taken the rough road for the deserted military station of Hazaribagh.

Which upon reaching the next day, he had immediately brought under his control, and succeeded in restoring a semblance of order. Albeit for a short while. For the presence of a large number of insurgents in the area had forced him to abandon the station not only after.

The Ramgargh mutineers, on the other hand, had arrived in Ranchi an hour after Edward’s departure. And straightway unleashed a spree of violence and destruction.

They had targeted European and native Christians. Burned down the quarters of officers. Obliterated government records. Not to mention bombarded the Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church at the G.E.L road complex – which till this day preserves a cannonball stuck to its wall as a reminder of the mutiny. (see the Farbound.Net snippet: Pioneer of the Faith).

Raja Jagarnath Sahi, the ally and friend who helped Edward.

During these trying times, Edward had been helped by his friend and ally, the local regent of Ramgargh, the Raja Jagarnath Sahi. In the archived letters that Edward had sent to the company’s headquarters in Calcutta. We find Edward heartily endorsing the Raja’s loyalty.

The Ramghur Raja has just visited me, and placed at my order, some 40 or 50 armed men. Of the Raja’s loyalty, there can be no question.

Edward Tuite Dalton, 1857.

Unlike the petty Raja of Porahat, Arjun Singh, who had exhibited dual allegiances over slight grievances. The Raja Jagarnath Sahi had stood firm in his support and later prevailed upon Edward to request European troops at the earliest. This Raja was also not the only regent in Chota Nagpur whose allegiance was without blemish.

Edward’s entries reveal, the Rajas of Seraikela and Kharsawn too had not wavered in their support. Nor had the royal family of Chota Nagpur. As well as several other Zamindars and tribal chiefs.

In fact, Edward’s entry provides us with a clear glimpse of what really had transpired in 1857. After the Bengal army had revolted in the month of May. Native princes, chiefs, Zamindars and even the common people had gradually come to form two hostile camps. One in favour of the rebels. Another in support of the East India Company.

And it was to a large extent for this support, that the E.I.C had ultimately subdued the rebellion of the Bengal sepoys and their allies.

Edward’s chronological entries.

Furthermore, Edward’s archived letters with their chronologically placed entries provide us with a vividly descriptive account of the events. As and when they had unfolded in Chota Nagpur.

They acquaint us with one Madhub Singh. A Jamadar of the Ramgargh Light Infantry. Who is elected as the leader of the mutinous Ramgargh battalion. The frantic race between mutineers and loyalists to secure arms and ammunition. Plunder of the treasury. Theft of Government property. Including that of four elephants that were the personal property of Edward himself.

Of the fickle loyalty of one Thakoor Bisnath Sahai of Burkagurgh, who had initially refused to comply with the Sepoys in rebellion, yet within the lapse of seven days had joined their ranks – having been offered the mantle of leader and kingship.

Of the loyalty of Lall Oopendur Nath Sahi. The heir apparent to the throne of Chota Nagpur. The names and ranks of British officers stationed there. Particularly of one Colonel Robbins, a lieutenant Graham and a Captain Davies. Men who appear frequently in Edward’s entries.

The confusion among the mutineers. Who in spite of having mutinied had possessed no definite plan of action. Their propensity to take up employment with local landlords and chiefs. By electing them as leaders. And of the desperation of the besieged Edward himself. Who we find repeatedly requesting for detachments of men. Especially Colonel Rattray’s Sikhs.

But the most telling, is Edward’s faith in the loyalty of the populace of Chota Nagpur. A sentiment, that we know, was shared by several other officers of the East India Company. Who in the early days had found it impossible to believe that their trusted Sepoys were up in arms. So suddenly had the Bengal army turned upon their former commanders.

Edward’s faith in the loyalty of Chota Nagpur.

Yet from Edward’s entries, it comes forth that his faith in the people of Chota Nagpur, in spite of receiving occasional jolts, was never fully broken.

If in one entry, Edward writes, ‘I have no reason at present for saying that any of the more influential zamindars will side with the mutineers. On the contrary, I believe they will find the country generally opposed to them’.

In another, we find him deliberately differentiating between the loyal and disloyal men. Stating with conviction the Sepoys recruited from Chota Nagpur had not been corrupted.

I am credibly informed that all the men of the battalion enlisted in the Ramghur and Chota Nagpore Districts are very anxious for the restoration of order and for our return. And will not obey the mandates of the head of the mutineers Jamadar Madhub Sing, who has on his side only the Bhojepooreeans and men of Western India, Behar etc.

Edward Tuite Dalton

Later we come across several other entries, wherein Edward can be found speaking up for the loyalty of native soldiers. The honouring of Zamindars and local chieftains with “Perwannas” and tiles of “Rai Bahadoor” for their loyalty and support during the turbulence. And a glowing recommendation for the royal family of Chota Nagpur to be honoured with the British Indian Government’s commendations.

Delayed reinforcements.

While in the initial days of the outbreak, it was but prudent of Edward to request prompt reinforcements. The British administration at Calcutta, however, at the time had bigger problems to deal with. And if Edward’s concern was limited to controlling the anarchy that rampaged within only the Chota Nagpur Plateau.

The Government’s concern was curbing a rebellion that was raging in the vast tracks of present-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Garrisoned by large bodies of mutinous native soldiers, and less than a handful of European regiments.

Though initially hesitant of utilizing the native troops of the Bombay and Madras presidencies. Doubtful of their true allegiance in these grave circumstances. The Government had later, reluctantly agreed to field regiments of the Madras army.

A force of which had arrived in the city of Calcutta on the 5th of August 1857, and moved inland to counter rebel forces. While another had marched from Cuttack, present-day Odisha for the province of Chota Nagpur.

Edward reinforced at Bogadar.

Although sent with the prime directive to free the 600 miles long grand truck road that linked the city of Allahabad to Calcutta as the lifeline of the Bengal Presidency.

Several detachments of this force from Cuttack had reinforced Edward in the town of Bogadar. And later helped him reoccupy Hazaribagh again. Followed by Doranda and Ranchi on the 22nd of September, 1857. Which in his short absence had been declared a town of the Mughal Empire by rebel soldiers.

On the 2nd of October 1857, after a small contingent of 350 loyal soldiers, had cornered and defeated a large and powerful rebel army of 3,000 men in the town of Chatra, in what later was to be known as the battle of Chatra.

The threat of the Sepoys had effectively come to an end in the province and allowed for the successful reoccupation of other towns by contingents of loyal troops who had engaged and ejected mutineers and subdued pockets of resistance.

But, in spite of this major victory in October, the anarchy that had entrenched itself firmly in the province had not abated.

For the tribal threat had still prevailed at Hazaribagh, Palamu and Singhbhum. With the stragglers and survivors of the once at large rebel army, now reenforcing the numbers of the Chero and Bogata tribesmen.

Edward fails to capture ringleaders in Palamu.

Thus in January 1858, we are not surprised in the least to find Edward marching down to Palamu to quell the tribal Chero-Bogata uprising, which even after the capture of the Palamu fort, a stronghold, was to continue unabated till November 1858.

Here it may be also worthwhile to know, that while Edward had spent a considerable time at Palamu. Reestablishing order and freeing the area from tribal vengeance. That at its violent peak had witnessed attacks on landlords and destruction of jails, courthouse, government buildings. Not to mention, the coal factory at Rajhara, a town now within the Palamu district. 

He had ultimately failed in his primary objective of apprehending the main ring leaders. Men who were well acquainted with the landscape and had made excellent use of its dense forests, hills and easy escape routes to elude capture. And continued with their objective of harassing and raiding nearby towns.

Which even after their deaths had lasted till 1859.

Edward restores order in British Singhbhum.

Records also indicate that after Palamu, Edward was present in British Singhbhum. Lending his assistance in curbing the Kol uprising. Which after the defeat and eviction of the Raja Arjun Singh by an allied force of Government troops and men of Seraikela and Kharsawn in November 1858, had turned from a regional dispute of power to an anti-colonial moment.

Arjun Singh, having been accepted by the Kols as their king, had instigated a powerful insurrection, this time directed solely at the colonial administration. 

This second insurrection had at its height witnessed killings and widespread destruction of government property. And In spite of government forces defeating the Kols in pitched battles, and later the surrender of Arjun Singh and other Kol leaders. The region had not been pacified till 1861.

Gratitude of the Government and promotion to major.

Edward’s gallantry during these trying times did not go unrewarded. An entry in military archives related to the war service of the officers of the Bengal army, dated 1863, reveals Edward did indeed earn the gratitude of the E.I.C. administration and later after its dissolution in 1859, of the British Home Government.

Moreover, for his gallantry and conduct, he was also promoted to the rank of Major.

What one may perhaps find more remarkably though, is that in spite of witnessing the deaths of innocent men, women and children, and having his own life endangered on several occasions, the upheaval of 1857 had ultimately produced very little animosity within him.

For after the mutiny had been curbed. We find Edward, carrying out his official duties with calculated precision and moral firmness. And without harbouring ill will or hatred for either the tribals of his province or the ordinary Indian Sepoy.

Edward the just commissioner. 

From 1863 onwards, Edward appears to have set anchor in calm waters, as there is little mention of any large upheaval or perilous mission he is called upon to face, other than what possibly was one minor expedition to Cuttack, Odisha. That he appears to have undertaken in 1866.

Henceforth, far from battlefield duties, we only get to hear of him as the just commissioner of the Chota Nagpur Plateau.

Engaged in administrative duties, touring the province and establishing a fair system of law. While maintaining constant correspondence with Calcutta that even after the dissolution of E.I.C., had remained as the capital of British India and the administrative headquarters of the Bengal Presidency.

In this peaceful phase, it may be safe to assume, Edward may well have continued his study and observation of the tribes of Chota Nagpur with a still unbroken interest in anthropology, and perhaps as a wary commissioner who had taken note of their warlike fervor a few years back.

Edward’s impartial treatment of the tribes of Chota Nagpur.

While Edward as an administrator had sought to manage his province with an impartial system of law and order. Wherein he had both punished offenders, settled disputes and rewarded. His relation with the tribes of Chota Nagpur can be said to have extended beyond the duties of administration and his hobby of anthropology.

That we know Edward was an amateur anthropologist is evident from his habit of recording details of tribes and tribal customs as well as his authorship of the Ethnology of Bengal. A book he had laboured to produce for the purpose of documentation and scientific study.

From what we can glean from Edward’s mind, revealed in his opinions related to these tribes of Chota Nagpur. It seems that he had been sensitive to their state of existence, and besides harbouring a genuine sympathy had sincerely worked towards helping them as best he could.

As is evident from an extract in S.P Sinha’s academic work: Conflict and Tension in the Tribal Society. In which the author, while explaining the factors that led to the Gond rebellion in 1888. Has drawn a comparison between Edward and his successor, Heweitt. Who replaced him as commissioner in 1880.

“What the tribal Gonds in 1888 paid as land tax was over six times more than what they paid during Dalton’s tenure as commissioner. When Dalton was commissioner, the Gonds were required to pay a nominal 48 annas and 8 pieces annually as land tax. After Heweitt became commissioner and worked in favour of the Raja of Bonai. They were required to pay 322 annas and 5 pieces, 303 annas and 2 pieces, 70 annas and 4 pieces, and 66 annas and 4 pieces. To extract this land rent, the Raja most often retorted to harsh measures”.

S.P Sinha

The tribes of Chota Nagpur during Edward’s time.

The tribes Edward had come across in Chota Nagpur during his tenure as commissioner were a volatile but much-neglected people. Who had traditionally harassed, raided and warred with neighbouring clans and settlers. And in turn, had been exploited by local authorities, kings and oppressive landlords.

As a people who had belonged to neither the sect of Hinduism nor Islam. But had adhered to their own beliefs and practices. They were largely to be found on the fringes of established societies. Their men had been mostly used by these societies, for menial labour or in times of war recruited as mercenaries through temporary pacts.

The chief occupation of these tribesmen otherwise had been to forage for forest produce and live off the land. Or in the case of certain clans such as the Paharias. Who had dwelled in the North-Central parts of the Santhal Parganas – the heartland of the tribes. Acquire the necessities of living by raiding Hindu settlers residing in the plains. Especially farmsteads.

In the 18th century, prior to Edward’s tenure, they were also a much subjugated and ostracized people. Bondaged at the bottom of the social ladder. Sometimes with the sinews of the caste system and at other times with a one-sided law, that had denied them fair justice.

Exploitation of the tribes.

Although when the East India Company had initially set up its administration in Chota Nagpur in 1786, some of these tribes had benefited from monopolized agricultural rights, exemption from land taxation and a certain degree of autonomous rule. Not to mention regular employment opportunities.

Hired as they had been for clearing densely forested areas for cultivation purposes. Protecting the countryside from wild animals. And importantly the building of the railway line from Calcutta to Patna. Which S.P Sinha notes, had immensely profited the Santals in particular.

Loopholes in the system had also led to their exploitation. Especially at the hands of non-tribal money lenders known as the Dikus and the landholding zamindars. To make matters worse, they had been further harmed by the partiality of local magistrates and administrators like Heweitt. Who had been more in favour of benefitting the ruling or landowning aristocracy. And ultimately brutal confrontations with the local police.

All of which had left them completely disillusioned. Not just with these offices. That were part and parcel of laws and rules alien to their way of life, albeit corrupt examples of a prudent system. But the administration in general.

The contractors sent their recruiters to every fair, and in a few months, the Santals who had taken up service came back with their girdles full of coins and their women covered with silver jewellery. Just like Hindus as their astonished clans-people remarked. Every man woman and child could get work. And boys of ten earned higher wages on the line than men earned in villages –

S.P Sinha

Insurrection, an expression of discontentment.

Thus by 1856, these tribes had become prone to staging insurrections. For the reason, that prior to this time and during this phase, a violent outburst was their only means of expressing their discontentment.

Which in turn had made governing the region more difficult for the East India Company. With company administrators having to oscillate between maintaining the support of local regents and the powerful land aristocracy on one side. And keeping the tribal populations free of grievances on the other. In order to prevent large scale insurrections.

While much of their hatred was in essence directed at money lenders, landlords, corrupt magistrates and the local police. The tribes had also exhibited hostility over interference in their ancestral customs and practices.

That prior to the administration of the E.I.C. Neither local kings nor the landowning aristocracy had bothered to change or amend. But the British, as reformers, had delved into.

Particularly the pioneering Christian missionaries. Who in the initial stages finding it impossible to convert the higher castes had strived to better with the hope of conversions later.

Soka, the tribal witch hunt.

In 1853 one such resentment had erupted over the abolishment of the tribal custom of Soka. That was literally a witch hunt and had witnessed the cold-blooded murder of a man or a woman by an entire community, on simple accusation. As had once prevailed in medieval Europe and other parts of the world.

Under tribal belief, this ritual killing was not considered a crime as its practice had freed a community of an evildoer who had either stricken a clan or a village with bad luck or afflicted one with incurable diseases. 

The East India Company, after embedding its government in the region, had been bent on introducing modern laws among the populace. And likewise had banned all that it had considered as inhuman practices – such as this tribal witchhunt. That in spite of resulting in the murders of innocent men and women had been observed with great devotion.

This ban, for superstitious reasons, had naturally been greatly resented. And during the chaos that had engulfed Chota Nagpur in 1857. There had been a widespread violation of the ban.  

Mention of Edward reimposing the ban on Soka.

However, curated information, tells us that soon after order had been restored, Edward had once more imposed the ban and had later, fervently pushed to have the custom of Soka abolished.

Though during the mutiny, Edward had experienced the tough task of curbing the insurrection of the Santhals, Kols, Cheros and Bogatas in various parts of Chota Nagpur and its adjoining areas. Nowhere do we find him holding a disparaging view of every tribe under his jurisdiction.

Albeit there are instances. As we find the author Gautam Bhadra stressing upon his use of adjectives when describing certain tribes, in the 11 book series, Mutiny at the Margins.

Yet Edward cannot also be said to have been prejudiced in his opinions. For we also find him showering glowing praise upon the tribes. Like in the case of the Kols of Chaisaba when they had apprehended a detachment of the mutineers in 1857 – and in his eyes upheld the law.

In fact, as Bhadra states, the Kols of Chaibasa had turned hostile only after they had been refused Government acknowledgement for their commendable service.

In regard to the Chero-Bogata uprising, Edward seems to have largely viewed the event as instigated by a handful of influential ringleaders of the clan. As he may very likely have blamed Arjun Singh of Porahat for influencing the Kols.

Although it goes without saying, as a wary administrator, he had also been suspicious of their activities.

Edward’s civic governence and the Kols.

In the opinion of Gautam Bhadra, Edward as an anthropologist was interested in the development of a community of aspiring people eager for self-betterment, and for their own good. While as an administrator, he had desired civil order.

Which brings us to the understanding that Edward was much in favour of creating a world of responsible law-abiding citizens and one where judicial law was paramount.

While Edward was also firmly convinced that in time the tribal people of the Chota Nagpur plateau would eventually come to accept modernity and become law-abiding citizens of a responsible society.

It is a singular fact that in not one instance has the offer of reward produced the desired effect. Many of the delinquents have been captured it is true. But by the military force or the police. Not the people. Thus, though a man may have committed a crime so atrocious as to lead us to expect that the society in which he exists would be most anxious to get rid of him, and that all who know him guilty would for their own sake help to deliver him to justice, not a soul will move in the matter. Even with the additional temptation of a large reward.

Edward Tuite Dalton

During the rebellion, reflects Bhadra, Edward had been perturbed when he had failed to individualize the responsibility of the rebellion among the Kols. In spite of levying a fine and offering rewards.

Furthermore, he had also been exasperated with them for adhering more to tribal justice than the judicial system. That in his eyes was clearly against the norm of the state and restricted the limit of the law.

Edward’s foreword.

However, while we do find Edward imposing bans on customs like the Soka and upholding the virtues of his office as an administrator. Later we also find him speaking up against the policy of imposing western laws on a foreign people – more accustomed to following the customs of their ancestors.

A concern that we find him expressing in a tactful and polite manner in the introduction page of his book: The Ethnology of Bengal. The very first official work of Ethnology, which had purposely documented the lives of the tribes that had dwelled within the Bengal Presidency.

The Ethnology of Bengal.

Edward had begun work on the Ethnology of Bengal in the year 1866. He was then 51 years old and a colonel in the British Indian army. His involvement with the project had grown roots from the making of a catalogue that had been entrusted to him by the Asiatic Society of Bengal. And his initial assignment had been to edit the information that was to be presented in the catalogue.

But having extensively toured Assam and Chota Nagpur, and gaining a thorough understanding of the tribes that had inhabited these regions, Edward had found the information to be inadequate. And had offered to rewrite the catalogue with the details that he had acquired during his tours.

This catalogue that Edward had initially prepared had been created for distribution during an exhibition of the primitive tribes of British India in the city of Calcutta. The live exhibition, the brainchild of Sir Joseph Fayrer, had been planned to grow awareness, understanding and enrich the field of scientific studies.

The scrapping of the exhibition.

However, before the exhibition could commence. The British Commissioner of Assam had pointed out the logistical, political and health issues related to ferrying the tribals of Assam to the distant city of Calcutta. His argument had carried weight and brought the exhibition that was to unveiled in 1869 to a premature end.

Though the exhibition had been scrapped off on humanitarian grounds, the interest to document the tribes for scientific study had still simmered with the Asiatic Society of Bengal and the British Indian Government. And somewhere down the line, had come about the idea of a comprehensive book on the same subject.

Edward the author.

In spite of never having authored a book of such magnitude before, Edward had nonetheless committed himself to its creation. In the colossal undertaking, he had been helped by the British Indian Government who had provided him with raw data from every administrative subdivision of British India.

Not to mention photographers who would illustrate the book with rare photos of tribal men and women.

Edward had eventually completed the writing of the book after six years of hard labour and in spite of having lost his personal journals during the mutiny of 1857 (see Farbound.Net Story: Those half naked tribal women and the men who loved them so dearly). During the writing of the book, he was residing in the yesteryear town of Ranchi.

Edward and the pastor Fedrick Batsch. 

In 1855, if we saw Edward superintendenting an expedition to avenge the deaths of French Missionaries, Nicholas Michael Kirck and Augustine Etienne Bourry in the rugged Mishmi Hills of Assam. In 1868, we once more find him helping yet another missionary claim justice. This time as a commissioner concerned for the welfare of a town and very likely as a devoted friend.

Hailing from Germany, the pastor Fedrick Batsch was a pioneer who had sowed Christianity in the soil of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. After a slow and utterly frustrating start, he had accumulated a congregation of 10,000 members from the tribal population in the region and in 1855 erected the building of the Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church. That in the present century can still be found at Ranchi’s G.E.L Road Complex.

Batsch had accomplished these feats in the same time frame Edward had been preoccupied with organizing an expedition against the Mishmi clans in Assam to avenge the death of the two French missionaries who had been murdered at Rima, in what then had been the country of Tibet.

Between 1866 and 1872, however, Batsch had found himself a victim of clergy politics and under investigation for crimes he had been wrongfully accused of and by the very sect he had sworn never to severe ties with. In this dark hour of his life, he had found support and strength, not from his own countrymen or clergy. But from the English residents of Ranchi. Especially Edward who appears to have admired his tireless missionary work.

Batsch, the pioneer who introduced Christianity in Chota Nagpur.

Here it is worthwhile to mention, that it is to Batsch that we not only owe the honour of introducing Christianity in Chota Nagpur. But also starting the trend of establishing schools and providing free meals. As he had done in the 18th century for the tribal Kols. In spite of struggling to make ends meet on a scanty allowance.

While Edward had arrived a few years after Fedrick was already settled in Ranchi. It is very likely the two would have been very much been acquainted and privy of each other’s labours. Residents of a small town as they had been and members of a small European community.

It may perhaps also not be too much of a stretch to imagine, Edward and Batsch would also have met and greeted each other on a regular basis. And finding the opportunity, engage in conversation under some cool shade without trampling on each other’s views or opinions.

Edward’s support of Batsch.

Though Edward had been unable to intervene in matters pertaining to the clergy. From the historical works produced by Archbishop Eyre Chatterton in 1903 and J. Cave Brown in 1870, we glean that Edward had spent considerable effort to restore harmony in the Gossner Mission in Ranchi. And that it was he who had reached out to the Anglican Bishop Robert Milman to intervene and reconcile matters.

Furthermore, these historical documents also reveal Edward, in his personal capacity, had also tried in vain to reconcile Batsch with the Reverand Ansorge. The investigating officer whose prejudice and dislike for the elder missionary had ultimately led to his humiliation and ex-communication.

In Eyre Chatterton’s work, History of the Church of England in India, an extract describing an interview between Edward and Ansorge also helps us understand Edward’s perception of religion, and his strong inclination to have Batsch cleared of all charges.

Yes, but God works through a human agency and Mr. Batsch was his chief agent.

Edward Tuite Dalton

While another extract from the same book, this time recording the Reverend Ansorge’s accusation, reinforces our belief that Edward indeed was a friend of Batsch. Writes Eyre Chatterton, ‘The Reverend Ansorge retorted during the interview. I see that colonel Dalton is the only friend of the elderly missionaries’.

Which Colonel Davis, a second witness in the Batsch case, further strengthens for us. When he states, “To say that Colonel Dalton is the only friend of the missionaries is contrary to the fact. They have, as I am happy to say, still many friends left and I am proud to enrol myself among the numbers.”

Founding of the St.Paul’s Church. 

Edward, once a great patron of the Gossner Mission, had indeed been a devoted friend to Batsch. In 1871 after Batsch had been ultimately excommunicated along with four other pastors. And Bishop Robert Milman had inducted them into the Anglican fold. Edward had donated 500 pounds from his personal allowance for the construction of a new church, and later put in place its foundation stone (see Farbound.Net story: To err is divine. To help is human).

Companion of the Order of the Star of India, 1869.  

From other scanty mentions of Edward in government records and works of historians, we come to know that some three years after the publication of the Ethnology of Bengal in 1872 and the founding of the St. Paul’s Cathedral in the same year. Edward, aged 60, and a Lieutenant Colonel with the Bengal Staff Corps had formally resigned as the commissioner of Chota Nagpur Plateau in 1875.

Also that in 1869, some six years before his resignation, he had been knighted with the Companion of the Order of the Star of India. For the meritorious service he had rendered in the course of his 39-year long career.

The Companion of the Order of the Star of India was a form of knighthood, Queen Elizabeth had introduced in 1861 to honour British officers and soldiers. As well as Indian kings, princes and men of the calibre (C.S.I).

Edward’s nephew, Reginald Tuite Dalton.

While there is very little information about Edward’s life after he had formally resigned from his duties as commissioner. We do know that he had been granted a two-year leave to visit Europe, and perhaps his home in Ireland. Which possibly during his long tenure in India he had not visited once – not even on the death of his stepfather, Thomas, in 1870.

Though Edward had remained a bachelor. And dedicated his life to soldiering and administration of British India. His nephew, Reginald Tuite Dalton, son of his elder brother Gustavus had followed in his footsteps and joined the 10th Royal Hussars.

A cavalry regiment that is now the armoured infantry brigade of the British army known as the King’s Royal Hussars.

Groomed in Sandhurst and inducted into this cavalry regiment as a sub-lieutenant, Reginald is known to have served in Kurram valley, Afghanistan in 1879 – during the second Anglo-Afghan war.

He had retired after the end of the military campaign. And may perhaps have met his uncle during this tenure in India. Or perhaps corresponded with him like Gustavus and Bective.

Death, 1880.

What Edward’s plans were after relinquishing his office or where he may have wanted to settle down is not known. The last we hear of his name is in an obituary published by the Royal Asiatic Society.

Which announces his death at Cannes, France on the 30th of December, 1880. Due to Cardiac Arrest. He was then 65 years of age. And a Major General with the Bengal Lancers.

Edward was neither a lord nor a high ranking commanding officer for history to have automatically allot him one of its pages. In spite of Thomas having been a devoted stepfather and Bective, a devoted brother. His name along with that of his elder brother Gustavus and younger sister had been omitted from the Taylour family until their discovery by Eimera Walsh in 2011.

A common Irish man.

What Edward was in essence was basically a common man. But one who was determined to leave his mark as a soldier and administrator.

A man of high moral standards, he had set sail for India at the age of twenty, for adventure, a promising career and the opportunity of earning a stable pay. Like many other Irish, Scots and English statesmen, soldiers and officers in the 18th century. Who had taken up service with the East India Company.

In India, he had found himself in the right places at the right time, and never once failed to rise to the occasion. During the later half of his tenure as commissioner from 1863 to 1875. Barring aside one minor episode, more pertaining to justice. There are no known records of revolts or uprisings.

While not a policymaker. With the power vested in his office. He had sought to make a difference. His firm support of the German pastor Fedrick Batsch both as a friend and commissioner also speaks much of his character as a man of principles.

The respect Edward had commanded among both European and native people can be judged by an incident during the 1857 mutiny.

In the month of August when a large force of the mutinous Ramgargh battalion had reached Ranchi and ransacked the town. Destroying government property and bungalows of English officers. Edward’s own residence had been spared.

A servant of mine had just come in from Ranchee. He reports that the mutineers of the 45Ramgurgh locals reached the station at 4 p.m, about an hour after our departure. They proceeded first with their guns to my house. But after consultation, they left it uninjured.And went to Captain Oakes, which they burnt and then burnt Lieutenant Monerieff’s…

Edward Tuite Dalton, 1857.

Daltanganj, the town Edward founded in Chota Nagpur.

Located some 172 km North of Ranchi, Daltanganj was a town founded by Edward during his tenure as commissioner between 1855 -1875. Possibly after the Chero-Bogata uprising in 1857.

Today it is a bustling and thriving city of over three lakh residents known as Medininagar, and the headquarters of the Palamu District.

The Indian Railways still refer to the city as Daltonganj (2018). It is one of the two routes via which the Ranchi-Rajdhani ferries passengers to and fro between the capital cities of Ranchi in Jharkhand and New Delhi.

The unknown Irish in India.

In spite of the dissolution of the E.I.C., Irishmen like Edward, and of whom we still know little about, continued to serve in India till the country’s independence in 1947.

Though by 1923 in the wake of the Irish Independence, their numbers had significantly dwindled.

Yet, it was their contribution that had unwittingly proved instrumental in transforming a vast region of small kingdoms into the modern-day countries of India and Pakistan.

I F I This is an independent story highlighting the life and career of Edward Tuite Dalton. It has been created from facts curated from literary sources and historical documents. I